2008 Toronto Summer Olympics...???

Just a quick thought about the failed Toronto bid to bring the Summer Olympics here in 2008.  At the time, I was convinced that then-Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranche's pressuring to bring the games to China was an effort on his part to cement his legacy - and I do still believe this to be true.  However, with the news coming out yesterday via the memoir of a Chinese Beijing bid official that some backroom IOC (International Olympic Committee) politicking ultimately secured the 2008 Games for China, I must say I'm not surprised.

The Globe and Mail's James Christie writes that current IOC President Jacques Rogge's ascension to the Olympic throne was orchestrated with Chinese support in exchange for the keys to the 2008 Summer Games. Clearly the millions upon millions spent on what appeared to be a winning Toronto bid, were of absolutely no consequence to IOC officials.  Just another sign of how corrupt the Olympic establishment really is.  History has proven that the Olympics are fraught with politics and though the organization's gotten better at minding its paper trails,  the 'games behind the Games" continue to be played.  I did not write this post to opine the failed Toronto Olympic bid, although a victory would have secured a much more sophisticated waterfront for Torontonians!  I simply wonder what it would truly take to win one of these competitions when it seems the IOC usually has its mind made up before the bidding even begins.  Vancouver 2010, you have some explaining to do...

Defender Telegraph, page 6, No. 001 

Musings about Nationalism in Italian Football

 Member's of Italy's national football squad posing for Dolce & Gabbana

Since Italy recently qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, I was reminded of a thought I had a number of years ago...

Back in the summer of 2003, I backpacked around Europe for nearly 2 months.  I made my way through London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Dijon, slept on the beach in Biarritz, San Sebastien, Barcelona, and Nice before making my way to Italy in cities like Florence and Rome. The trip gave me a real sense of European Nationalism.  Why?  Because each place I visited employed different customs, phone systems, languages, and ultimately football strategies.  Just like hockey here, European football or soccer as Americans and Canadians refer to it, is a religion.  And while sports fans treasure their league teams, they live and die with their national squads - the teams which ultimately represent the countries in European and World Cup Championships.

The point of this story is (and there is one assuredly!) that while in Rome, I had conversation with an Italian man on the train. His English was pretty good and we ended up speaking about, what else, football!  My mother was born in Naples so naturally, I cheer for the Italians at every major competition; I would however, root for a Canadian squad if we ever had one good enough to qualify for these tournaments.  Anyway, I asked this Italian man why the Italians always play a conservative, almost military-like defensive style, when they had such skilled players. He replied simply by saying "this is the Italian style, and that's how WE play".  But, I said, "why not open it up and play a South-American style, with more flare, speed, and offense?"  I awoke his ire, I think, by suggesting the Italians play like the Brazilians.   He immediately started shaking his head, saying "no, no, no, you don't understand, we play this way, because this is the Italian way to play football.  We can only win this way."

I was mystified.  Why is the Italian football strategy so rigid and archaic?  I mean strong defense is great if you only have players inclined able to play that way, but if you have a squad filled with speed and skill, why not adapt the team's strategy to the strengths of its members?  In my opinion, the answer boils down to nationalism.  In Canada, we expect our teams to play a 'blood and guts' brand of hockey.  Still though, whatever the roster for the 2010 Canadian Men's Olympic hockey team ends up looking like, I'm sure most Canadians would take any kind of victory in Vancouver, regardless of how it was accomplished.  In Italy and in many European countries however,  the team's style of play is just as important as the victory itself.  And I think this ultimately has something to do with deep seeded nationalistic ideals embedded in many hermetic European nations.

Defender Telegraph, page 8, No. 001 

American Labour

American Apparel is saving their most labour intensive work for African-Americans like Willie (seen above).  So if you're Black, you can feel comfortable knowing there'll always be back-breaking work for you in the 'backroom' of some American-Apparel outlet somewhere.

Responsible for the near-porn strewn across billboards throughout the majority of the Western hemisphere, the dominant clothing brand won't be backing down anytime soon from its successful advertising strategy.  And why would they when they appear to be doing better than ever?

When it comes to sexualizing and exotifying its models, many of whom are employees of the so-called fair trade brand, American Apparel has broken it down to a science. For these reasons,  Willie's pose is ripe for analysis. Rather than having Willie undressed and in some uncomfortable position like most other AA model shots, this ad, torn off the back of an Eye Magazine in the Spring, has Willie flexing his muscles.  It's unlike any other ad for American Apparel I've seen before, and coming from them I'm not surprised.  It conjures up all the stereotypes that the history of American labour has to offer.  Could you picture the company using a White, Chinese-American, or Mexican-American model in the back of some cube van flexing for these shots?  No way.  Nevertheless, they do make a fine t-shirt.

Defender Telegraph, page 1, No. 001 

Thesis 1.0: The Chicago Project

"While at Schorling Park, interracial crowds numbering as high as 10,000 consistently exceeded the numbers at Comiskey Park or at Cubs games, even on the same day."
Davarian Baldwin, from his book Chicago's New Negroes

After weeks of deliberation on my part, I've come to the conclusion that my thesis research wouldn't be complete unless it addressed the impact early 20th century Chicago had on the development of athletics in the African-American community and the greater American professional sporting scene at large. In 1916 alone, Chicago received upwards of 50,000 new African-American residents seeking employment in industry after WWI closed the country's doors to immigration, leaving factories undermanned throughout the country. 

This massive influx of people was part of a collective movement amongst African-Americans called The Great Migration, in which hundreds of thousands of freedmen and women from the South headed northward above the Mason-Dixon Line to not only seek equitable work in industry, but to create new lives and identities in the metropolis. The Great Migration was the genesis for both the Harlem and Chicago Renaissances, periods in which - according to James Weldon Johnson's Black Manhattan - actors, musicians, intellectuals, and athletes, emerged as key cultural 'producers'. It is in Chicago that we see the development of Negro Baseball Leagues, the formation of The Harlem Globetrotters (yes, they originated in the Midwest), and new styles of play, built around speed, defence, savvy, and showmanship; tactics generated by African-Americans to mitigate the impact and control racially bias or corrupt White officials had on particular games or matches. The city is also the home of The Chicago Defender, perhaps the most influential African-American newspaper in the early 20th century.

Check in for more maps and project updates!
Defender Telegraph, page 6, No. 001

Thank you!!!

Just a big Thank You to all my friends who showed up to see Afterimage #6 Ali vs.Williams, 1966 for Nuit Blanche this year; Sue, Blanca, Will, Nigel, and Melisa. : )

Thank you to my good friend Dhani Oks who both owns and operates the Crossfit Gym at 20 Gladstone (near Queen) for proposing the venue to me for the night.

And finally, thanks to the very wonderful Sabrina for helping me get the piece ready at the last minute...couldn't have done it without you!

Defender Telegraph, page 1, No. 001 

Afterimage #6, Ali vs. Williams 1966 -- Nuit Blanche 2009 , @ Crossfit Gym, 20 Gladstone Ave.

 

Defender Telegraph, page 5, No. 001

Nuit Blanche

It's total last minute, but I was asked to install a piece tomorrow evening for NUIT BLANCHE at the Crossfit Gym (20 Gladstone Ave. @ Queen West.).  Come see The People's Champ circa 1966!!!